The Scotsman, Hamza Yusuf, 37, became the first Muslim to lead the Scottish National Party in the country’s history, a move that will make him head of government after Parliament votes on Tuesday.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said that Youssef became the first Muslim to lead a major party in the United Kingdom, and he would be the first leader to come from an ethnic minority in a government delegated by the United Kingdom.
Hamza, who held the position of Minister of Health, won 52.1 percent of the votes of members of the National Party, after intense competition with the current Minister of Finance, Kate Forbes, 32, and former Minister Ash Reagan, 38, to succeed the party leader and prime minister. Nicola Sturgeon, who abruptly announced her resignation in February, after holding the position for nearly eight years.
After his announcement as party leader, on Monday, Youssef said in a speech from Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, speaking of his immigrant grandparents from Pakistan in the sixties of the last century: “As immigrants who knew only one word in the English language, they did not imagine in their wild dreams that their grandson would one day be on the cusp of to become First Minister of Scotland.
He added, “We should all be proud of the fact that today we sent a clear message that neither the color of your skin nor your faith will stand in the way of leading the country that we all call home.”
Yusuf was widely seen as the preferred candidate for the leadership of the Scottish National Party The Times.
He is set to be formally chosen by the Scottish Parliament, on Tuesday, to be the next head of government. After that, he will be formally sworn in at the Supreme Court, Wednesday.
The Times said that after Sturgeon entered history as the first woman to lead Scotland, the competition for her succession proved to be “historic” as well, after a candidate warned of an ethnic minority belonging to the Islamic religion filled the position.
The newspaper described the vote for his selection as party leader as “historic” not only for Scotland, but also for the United Kingdom, as his victory comes after the election of British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, last year, and Leo Varadkar, to head the government of Ireland, in 2017.
This is the first time that the prime ministers of Britain, Scotland and Ireland are of South Asian descent.
Yusuf’s supporters expect him to continue to pass on the progressive policies of the previous prime minister, but he will also have his own politics.
“He will be a team player,” said Ian Blackford, one of the SNP’s regional leaders. “He will emerge as the leader, but he will have people around the table with him.”
The biggest challenge for Youssef will be to unify his party, after deep divisions have emerged during the last period.